Modern medical imaging assemblies have increased in complexity and capabilities. These increases often result in an increase in power requirements and associated wear resistance on such assemblies. Such is the case with x-ray tube assemblies. Running in an environment of high temperature and high vacuum, x-ray tube bearings with traditional configurations such as solid lubricant often suffer from failure due to wear.
Within the bearings, the race wear is commonly determined by the contact stress, contact SV value, and heat generate rate between the contact of the raceway and the ball. Current bearing designs often reach capacity limits despite a market driven goal of longer tube life. Bearing design, therefore, must turn to new alternatives that allow for increase tube capacity and/or increased lifespan.
Additionally, conventional bearings often require complicated assembly methods and often fail to thermally compensate for the temperature extremes of an x-ray tube environment. Therefore, usage of traditional off-shelf bearing assemblies generates complex and costly issues regarding assembly and performance.
It would, therefore, be highly desirable to have an x-ray tube bearing assembly that allowed for simple and cost effective assembly. It would also be highly beneficial to have an x-ray tube bearing assembly that would thermally compensate for the temperature extremes of the x-ray tube environment.